On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Ulf Kristersson on his election as Sweden's next Prime Minister. He expressed his pleasure at the prospect of collaborating closely with his Swedish counterpart to further strengthen the multifaceted partnership between the two countries.
The Swedish parliament on Monday elected Kristersson, the conservative Moderate Party leader as the Prime Minister at the head of a coalition that is being supported by a once radical far-right party.
''Congratulations to H. E. Mr. Ulf Kristersson on his election as the next Prime Minister of Sweden. I look forward to working closely together to further strengthen our multi-faceted partnership,'' Modi said in a tweet.
Mr. Kristersson, 59, was elected by 176-173 votes. On Tuesday, he is expected to present his government.Although his coalition of three parties lacks a majority, prime ministers in Sweden are permitted to rule as long as there is no parliamentary majority against them.
His party, the Liberals, and the Christian Democrats make up Mr. Kristersson's center-right coalition government, but he has said that it will continue to work closely with the Sweden Democrats. In order for him to win a majority in Parliament, the Sweden Democrats must support him. This puts the party in a position to influence government policy from the sidelines even if it does not have any seats in the Cabinet.
Magdalena Andersson, who currently leads Sweden's largest party, the Social Democrats, will be replaced by Mr. Kristersson.He supports Sweden's historic NATO application following Russia's February invasion of Ukraine.
The center-left opposition heavily criticized the new governing coalition, with Lena Hallgren of the Social Democrats, calling it "a strange construction.”
It would hurt Sweden's reputation as an egalitarian and tolerant nation, according to many, as it represented a paradigm shift.The leader of the former communist Left Party, Nooshi Dadgostar, stated that her parents, who fled Iran, had no idea that Sweden would move toward authoritarianism.
The governments of Sweden and India agreed to deepen their collaboration in the field of innovation through a strategic innovation partnership.
The Indo-Swedish innovation partnership is beginning to show its positive effects across a variety of industries. India now relies heavily on Sweden as a trading partner.Over 200 Swedish businesses are currently present in India.Swedish businesses invested $1.7 billion in India, which resulted in the creation of 200,000 direct jobs and 2,200,000 indirect jobs.
India and Sweden established relations in 1949 on the solid foundation of shared democratic values. Since Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to Sweden in 1957, the two countries have maintained high-level contacts.
Numerous high-level visits have taken place since then. President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Sweden from May 31 to June 2 in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Sweden in April 2018 for the first India Nordic Summit, and the Swedish King's visit in December 2019 at President Ram Nath Kovind's invitation are the three most significant recent visits.
